Digital friendship groups

In today’s fast-paced and often extremely hectic world, older people are at greater risk of loneliness than any other age group. Loneliness currently affects over 1.3 million older people in the UK and Bradford charity Age UK Bradford District is looking at innovative ways to tackle this loneliness crisis.  

Responding to regular conversations with older people, the charity is aware that evenings are identified as the loneliest time of day for many people. 

As Hadji Singh, Community Buddies Champion at Age UK Bradford District, explains, "Many of the people we speak to in the community tell us that they can often find opportunities to interact with others during the day but find evenings lonely with only the TV for company. Some have also told us that they can feel nervous to go out on an evening, so don't venture out as they once did." 

To better understand how to help address the issue, the charity is asking older people to complete a questionnaire so they can design a solution to meet the needs of people who want a more active social life, potentially without leaving their homes. 

A priority for the charity is to see whether the establishment of “Digital Friendship Groups” would help. The idea is that people could connect digitally from their own home with others who have shared interests. 

Sadie Ferriday, Marketing Assistant at Age UK Bradford District, is looking for feedback from older people and is asking the question: "Do you fancy regular Friday night dinners, a glass of wine/beer/cuppa on a Thursday evening, Monday chess club or an evening watching TV with company without having to leave your own home? We value your input to make this happen." 

To complete the short questionnaire to help develop this service, you can visit https://forms.gle/SXkCiQz1844HnDf9A 

The charity will be hoping to launch new groups in response to demand over the coming weeks and anyone who would like further details can contact Sadie on 01274 391190 or email sadie.ferriday@ageukbd.org.uk